Levy will raise more, won’t quote pooh-pooh Paterson

Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy hasn’t raised much (only $16,373) in the last six weeks, during which he declared he is mulling a run for governor. But he has one big asset: his campaign war chest is $4.1 million, which is more than the $3 million that incumbent governor David Paterson has in the bank.

“You’re going to need at least $20 million to get statewide recognition, but you need a base of money to make more money,” Levy said by phone. “That’s why we have viability if I were to go forward. Certainly it’s the next two months where I’ll look to see if I’m able to coalesce a large groundswell of support.”

I asked Levy about Paterson’s cash-on-hand, and how it struck him for a gubernatorial candidate. Many operatives and donors consider it to be a low showing.“It’s not a lot of cash on hand, but as a sitting governor, you have the potential to raise more quickly,” Levy said, pulling a punch. “In a Democratic race, the understanding would be you’d have three or four candidates out there all with twenty-plus million dollars in the end, and you might be able to come out on top with 33 percent of the vote.”

“When you’re a sitting governor, it would be a shock if you’re not raising a lot of money, but of course he’s been spending a lot of money to build up his numbers to get to a point of viability,” Levy continued.